Gold at FACE VALUE?
Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2012 2:23 am
Really?
I mean REALLY?!?
Yes, really.
Okay, breathe, Aaron. Breathe.
Okay guys. Here's my story. A friend of my wife's is the manager at a movie theater. A young man came in and asked if he could pay for his movie "with this $5 coin." No one had any idea what it was, "but it says United States on it." The employee asked her (the manager), and she replied, "sure, I'll buy the coin and put $5 in the till." She thought, "worst case scenario, it's junk, and I gave the kid a free movie. No big deal." She didn't even think about what the "best case scenario" could be...
She tells me about it... you know, just part of a conversation about interesting things which have been happening at the theater lately. I think you and the kids will like Wreck It Ralph (we did). Etc. Etc. I asked more about the coin... but she, not being a coin person, couldn't really describe it with any details that would help me narrow it down. Said it was 1999, about the size of a quarter, and gold colored. I tell her there is a real possibility it's worth quite a bit more than what she paid. She agreed to bring it back to the theater the next day for me to see it, so I went home and grabbed my Red Book, looked up all the different $5 coins. I was thinking tenth ounce eagle, because they do actually have a $5 face value, but that's like dime size, not quarter.
Got a pretty good idea of what it was, so the next day, we're talking about it again, and I asked her for her smart phone, and looked it up. Is this the coin? Yep. 1999W George Washington commemorative $5 gold piece. "Hey, uhhh... you should probably know it's worth about four hundred dollars."
Her jaw hit the floor.
Well, it's after 2am now, so I will tell you the rest of the story tomorrow.
I mean REALLY?!?
Yes, really.
Okay, breathe, Aaron. Breathe.
Okay guys. Here's my story. A friend of my wife's is the manager at a movie theater. A young man came in and asked if he could pay for his movie "with this $5 coin." No one had any idea what it was, "but it says United States on it." The employee asked her (the manager), and she replied, "sure, I'll buy the coin and put $5 in the till." She thought, "worst case scenario, it's junk, and I gave the kid a free movie. No big deal." She didn't even think about what the "best case scenario" could be...
She tells me about it... you know, just part of a conversation about interesting things which have been happening at the theater lately. I think you and the kids will like Wreck It Ralph (we did). Etc. Etc. I asked more about the coin... but she, not being a coin person, couldn't really describe it with any details that would help me narrow it down. Said it was 1999, about the size of a quarter, and gold colored. I tell her there is a real possibility it's worth quite a bit more than what she paid. She agreed to bring it back to the theater the next day for me to see it, so I went home and grabbed my Red Book, looked up all the different $5 coins. I was thinking tenth ounce eagle, because they do actually have a $5 face value, but that's like dime size, not quarter.
Got a pretty good idea of what it was, so the next day, we're talking about it again, and I asked her for her smart phone, and looked it up. Is this the coin? Yep. 1999W George Washington commemorative $5 gold piece. "Hey, uhhh... you should probably know it's worth about four hundred dollars."
Her jaw hit the floor.
Well, it's after 2am now, so I will tell you the rest of the story tomorrow.